Houshmand said a committee of Rowan faculty, staff and administrators began working on the document in fall 2011 after they realized the state was considering a merger of the two institutions. The suggestion of merging Rowan and Rutgers-Camden was first mentioned in December 2010, when a task force headed by former Gov. Thomas Kean submitted its higher education report to Gov. Chris Christie.

“I hope to respond to a number of questions raised by people during the hearing and through a number of newspaper articles,” said Houshmand Thursday. “I think it’s unfortunate that since the report (The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Advisory Committee Final Report) was released in January, we haven’t had the opportunity to sit down with our colleagues at Rutgers-Camden. I believe higher education has its own culture and, in order for changes to happen, it’s important to engage all of the important constituents. They deserve to be heard, and to discuss the impact those changes will have on their lives. We’ve been willing, and have made an effort, to speak with our colleagues, to no avail.”

Houshmand said he has met with Rutgers-Camden Chancellor Wendell Pritchett in the last couple of weeks but not concerning the Rowan report. The document follows the assumption that “a reorganization plan that calls for Rowan University to absorb Rutgers-Camden will result in the creation of one of the region’s largest research universities.” It says Rowan University will receive a one-time payment, to be determined through financial analysis, for transition expenses; will receive appropriations comparable to per pupil allocations of current New Jersey research universities and that the state will continue to pay fringe benefits “for all current employees of the combined institution as well as those additional employees hired to support core functions currently administered from Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus, now to be assumed by Rowan University.”

The plan also says Rowan’s board of trustees will expand from 15 to 25 members to better represent the involved entities; the governor will appoint a transition team, which will report to the Rowan BOT, to facilitate the planning and implementation of the merger and that — like Rutgers, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey — Rowan University “will not be subject to civil service requirements and guidelines. The bargaining process will be local.”

“When talk of a potential merger appeared, we engaged our leadership in this university for discussions,” said Houshmand, adding that this happened in October 2011, prior to the issuance of the task force’s final report. “We looked at it in terms of the challenges we might face. There are many challenges to this monumental task. It’s not going to be easy.”

All strategic planning within Rowan’s report follows the assumptions that an executive order will merge the two institutions, a mutually-beneficial partnership will exist between Rowan, Cooper University Hospital and Coriell Institute for Medical Research and Rowan will be granted classification as a research university. Additionally, the report assumes the merger “will not be successfully challenged by external parties,” the Rowan BOT will function as the governing board and the new research university will be headquartered in Glassboro. It also says Rowan’s endowments will remain with it, grant funding stipulated for Rutgers-Camden will remain with the campus and that “respect for the identities and traditions specific to Rutgers-Camden and Rowan communities and alumni will be preserved.”

Houshmand said there are several key areas addressed by the plan.

“We figured if this merger was going to take place, we had to make sure our colleagues would be represented, which is why we believe we should enlarge the board of trustees,” he said.

Houshmand said, academically, the newly-formed university would maintain the degree programs that currently exist in both Glassboro and Camden until instructors and curriculum begin to blend “organically.”

“The big challenge is to increase the number of seats in this region,” said Houshmand. “To do this, we need to increase the number of professional and graduate degree programs. For example, New Jersey is at the heart of the pharmaceutical industry, but we only have one pharmacy school.”

Houshmand said he believes a merger could create a “critical mass of excellence” by combining the two institutions and offer high-demand professional and graduate degree programs in areas like biomedical engineering, pharmacy, nursing, public health and more.

Financially, Houshmand said Rutgers-Camden is not currently retaining a fair share of funding. Though it currently generates $61 million in tuition and gets $45 million in appropriations from the state — all sent to Rutgers University in New Brunswick — Houshmand said Rutgers-Camden only gets $55 million back from New Brunswick.

“The money kept by New Brunswick should be in Camden,” said Houshmand, adding that money could stay in South Jersey with a merger

As far as student affairs, Houshmand said “life will continue as it does today." He said the campuses are 20 miles apart and there is “plenty of space” at each.

“No one is saying a student will be required to jump on the bus or a train for classes,” said Houshmand. “We’re going to keep existing degree programs in place as long as it takes. I’ve spent all of my professional life in higher education, and I know you can’t force any issue upon the faculty in higher education.”

Looking toward 2020 — if a merger should take place — the report says a fully-integrated Rowan University will expand its population to 25,000 students — 20,000 undergraduate students, including full-time, residential, commuter, part-time, online, hybrid, weekend and county college dual-enrollment students, and 5,000 graduate students in full-time, part-time, online, hybrid, professional and research-based programs. The report projects a more than $50 million research expenditure by that point as well. Currently, Rowan, Rutgers-Camden and Coriell combined account for about $26 million annually.

The transition team Houshmand mentioned, which would report to Rowan’s BOT, would help establish a comprehensive unified budget; determine how to accomplish a transfer of assets and assess the impact of debt on the new institution; create a new vision and mission focused on expanding research and increasing capacity while respecting existing values and cultures of both Rutgers-Camden and Rowan; lay the groundwork for centralized governance; enhance and integrate existing structures, policies and resources and establish a culture of one cohesive university environment. The document says the team would also “utilize the central administrative systems of both Rowan and Rutgers University (New Brunswick) during the transition period (from initial commitment until Rowan’s new blended curriculum goes into effect for all enrolled students.)”

On Thursday, Pritchett said he had received a copy of Rowan’s report but he’d only glanced through it.

“As I said Monday, we are opposed to being taken over by Rowan,” said Pritchett. “We think there are better ways to approach it. Therefore, I have no comments on the plan because we’re opposed to the takeover.”

Though he said he did meet with Houshmand, Pritchett said entering into any major discussions would be premature.

“Any decision about Rutgers-Camden has to be made by the Rutgers University Board of Governors and Board of Trustees,” he said. “At this point, none of those bodies have made any decision.”

Pritchett said, at Rutgers-Camden, stakeholders have been meeting to hone their own ideas for more favorable alternatives to a merger.

“We have a deep respect for Rowan, and they’ve done amazing things,” he said. “I have nothing but respect for the people there. But, I think our institutions are dramatically different. Therefore, having one take over the other is not the best method for improving education in South Jersey.”

Despite Pritchett’s respectful words, Houshmand had addressed comments that were less polite made by other members of the Rutgers-Camden community over the previous months.

“The mud-throwing is hurtful,” he said. “We have no intention to engage in that level of rhetoric because it doesn’t help. We have the highest level of respect for our colleagues in Camden. I think, together, we can come up with a successful solution. I don’t believe we will be successful if one side feels that it is losing.”

Houshmand said he feels both universities need to look toward the future. He said the creation of the report was not meant to “get ahead of everybody.”

“It is not a final document,” he said. “It could be the start of a discussion with our colleagues. To say this has not been thought through is not a fair statement. For people to say we don’t have experience is also untrue. We realize the fact that Rutgers is an amazing institution, and Rutgers — as a great entity — is not going away. This is a very charged, emotional issue, but until we sit around a table together, we won’t come up with a solution. A lot of issues have been raised, and there’s been a lot of negativity thrown at us, which is unreasonable and unfair. Why not come look, see, talk and get to know the faculty? You’ll be amazed. Let’s talk and get to know each other.”

Houshmand and Rowan spokesman Joe Cardona said, after the governor’s announcement of the report in January and an inquiry to Rutgers-Camden’s financial aid office by a member of Rowan’s staff, an e-mail was sent by Rutgers-Camden requesting that the faculty and staff of each institution not talk until after the governor made a decision.

“At every level, we have to talk,” said Houshmand. “Our students even want to reach out to their SGA.”

Pritchett said the ban on communication by the Rutgers-Camden community was not exactly accurate.

“We did ask the Rowan administration to contact the chancellor’s office about any merger-related information and to refrain from contacting middle managers,” said Pritchett.

Addressing other issues brought up at Monday’s hearing, Houshmand said he believes there has been misinformation circulated. He said though some have said Rutgers-Camden is already a research university, that isn’t entirely true. He said, though Rutgers University is a research institution, that designation applies to the main campus in New Brunswick.

Responding later, Pritchett disagreed.

“Rutgers is one university,” said Pritchett. “We share the research designation.”

Houshmand also said that, while it’s true that Rutgers University is a member of the Association of American Universities, the satellite Camden campus is not, just as it has a different athletic classification.

Addressing the fate of the Rutgers-Camden law school, which has also been a significant area of discussion, he said Rowan was informed by the UMDNJ Advisory Committee that members spoke to all the major accrediting agencies and had been assured that a new Rowan University would maintain existing accreditations as long as resources, programs and faculty remain relatively the same.

Adam Scales, a law professor recruited by Rutgers-Camden last fall, was critical of Rowan’s plan Thursday afternoon.

“It is as devoid of many of the critical specifics as the Barer (UMDNJ) report was,” said Scales.

He described the report as nothing more than a “glossy brochure that paid no attention to the details of how much it’ll cost.”

Scales, who was a 14-year professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia before he left for Camden, recently said he’d never have considered the relocation had he any forewarning of a proposed merger. A lack of detail and financial information have been among the various complaints coming from anti-merger groups since conversation about marrying the two South Jersey schools began.

“There’s a chart with a time table, but still no details as to how it’ll work,” Scales said.

Though Gov. Christie has made it clear a merger will undoubtedly happen by way of executive order, Scales, conscious of the possibility, still believes it won’t come to fruition.